16.3.18

36% of Nigerian teenagers are mothers

About 36 per cent of Nigerian girls from ages 15 to 19 have at least
one baby. The British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Laure Beaufils,
disclosed this yesterday.She spoke at the formal launch of “Educating
Nigerian Girls In New Enterprises (ENGINE II).”
Beaufils expressed British government’s commitment to tackling the
numerous challenges confronting the girl child in Nigeria, particularly
in Lagos State, due to the influx of visitors to the place.
ENGINE II is a UK aid initiative to be jointly implemented by the
Lagos State Ministry of Education, Office of the Special Adviser on
Education, Agency for Mass Education.This would be done in collaboration
with Mercy Corps Nigeria and Action Health Incorporated to help
marginalised girls from 16 to 19.
The aim is to support them to improve their learning outcomes and
economic status.Represented by the Regional Coordinator of DFID in the
South West, David Ukagwu, she said girls are the most vulnerable in the
society.She stressed that if their welfare were neglected, the society
would be deeply and negatively affected.

The envoy said the British government is committed to taking girls
out of the streets and ensuring that they acquire literacy, numeracy and
entrepreneurial skills.According to her, findings show that the
education of the affected girls would suffer.She said close to 12 per
cent of underage girls are already married, a situation she described
as worrisome.
Beaufils urged all affected stakeholders to create an enabling
environment that would empower the girl child.Special Adviser to the
Lagos State Governor on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh, said the
DFID- supported programme would scale up the ongoing activities in the
state.He added that it would help in training up to 7,000 marginalised
girls in Lagos, by empowering them with the much-needed literacy and
numeracy skills.
“These knowledge will unlock the potentials of these girls who before
now, had little or no education.It would also grant them access to new
opportunities that could improve their lives and the society at large,”
he said.